


If this is love (then love is easy)

by stuckytrash (Watsittoyou)



Series: Ohana [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Mpreg, Nightmares, Omega Bucky Barnes, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-26 05:57:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10780977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watsittoyou/pseuds/stuckytrash
Summary: The wedding - and what comes after.





	1. The Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> Reading Biological Imperative is not 'strictly' necessary, but might give a little backstory. More or less, the gist is that Bucky wanted to have a baby, asked Steve to be the father, and they got together before Genevieve was born.

The date for the wedding was a few days Bucky’s birthday; Steve wanted an early spring wedding, and wanted to be able to spend their honeymoon on Bucky’s birthday. Bucky, on the other hand, would have been completely content with a city hall wedding, but everyone had looked _outraged_ at the very idea, so he just rolled his eyes and went with whatever Steve decided.

The morning of, in separate rooms of their hotel, neither of them woke with cold feet or a great anxiety. Both awoke to a feeling of exuberant joy, knowing that in a matter of hours, and only hours after _that_ , they’d be entwined in the eyes of the law, and then bound to one another _biologically_ , having decided to wait until the wedding to mate.

The day began quickly, both dressing up in their tuxedoes – Steve’s a dark navy blue, Bucky’s black (“You can pull of black _way_ better than I can, you’ll look so much better-” Steve had insisted. “And _you_ look great in blue. Wear blue,” Bucky had replied.) They were both also wearing mint green ties to match Genevieve’s little dress, paying no heed of whether or not it matched their suits. She’d chosen it herself, after all, after much deliberation (read: stroking all of the ‘pretty dresses and suits’. She was only one, for God’s sake), and they both wanted to honour the little girl who was almost single-handedly responsible for her parents’ getting together.

Rebecca knocked on Bucky’s door thirty minutes before they were due to get married, stunning in her blue dress, with three year old Joseph bouncing on the ground, tugging at his mother’s hand.

“Hey, buddy,” Bucky greeted, kneeling down to give the boy a hug. “You ready to carry the rings for Uncle Steve and Uncle Bucky?”

“Yes!” he screeched in his ear, and he would have winced if he hadn’t been used to Genevieve doing just the same.

“It’s all he’s been talking about since he woke up.” Rebecca told his a grin lighting her face. “How do you feel? Cold feet at all?”

Bucky laughed once. “Heck no,” he told her all bright smiles and eyes. “I can’t wait to get married.”

“Your ring is on the wrong finger,” Rebecca told him, pulling his left hand up and taking his engagement ring off. He felt bare without it, looking at the slight discolouration around it from tan lines. Almost two years, he’d been wearing it.

“What?” he asked, confused. “I’ve always worn it on this finger, don’t tell me I wasn’t supposed to!”

“No, dummy,” she rolled her eyes. “The wedding ring goes _under_ the engagement ring. The wedding ring is never supposed to come off, so if you put it _over_ the engagement ring, you have to take it off to put it right. You’re not supposed to take it off, and doing that on the wedding day is bad luck or something. So put it on your _right_ hand, then slip it on after the wedding ring.

“Oh,” he murmured, brows furrowed. “Makes sense, I guess.” He agreed as he dutifully did as he was told. “Do you know where Evie and ma are?”

“They should be just coming back from Steve right about now,” Rebecca assured him, looking over her shoulder to see if she could spot them. “She looks so cute, you know. That little dress – _ugh_ , it’s got Harry hounding me to try for a girl.” She snickered, shaking her head. She craned her head down to face her son. “Hey, Joey, what would you think about a sister? Like little Evie?”

“Yucky!” he replied with a giant grin on his face. “Evie _not_ yucky. Sister _yucky_.”

Bucky sniggered. “Aww, Evie’s not yucky, is she?” At Joseph’s enthusiastic head shake, he couldn’t resist pecking the toddler on his cheek. “God, I love kids,” he muttered under his breath. “Now where’s mine?”

“Here she is,” his mother called, echoing a little down the corridor, and immediately Bucky brought himself to full height, reaching for his daughter as his mother drew near.

“Hey, princess,” he cooed as she giggled, tugging him in for a hard hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck, passing from Winnifred into Bucky’s arms. “How was Daddy?”

“Happy!” she babbled, her tiny milk teeth a bright white as she opened her mouth wide. Her gorgeous blonde hair had been carefully and gently curled, framing her beautiful, chubby face. Her eyes were a sparkling blue-grey that Bucky knew were just like his own, and he couldn’t help but think she wore them much more beautifully than he did. “Daddy happy, daddy papa-daddy!”

“Good,” he grinned in reply, placing an indulgent kiss on her temple that she leaned heavily into, eyes crinkling happily. “You excited, baby girl?”

“Yes! Dress is pretty,” she smiled again, and sometimes Bucky would be so blown away by how _adorable_ she was. This was one of those times.

“Yes, it is.” He said indulgently once again, twisting the soft material beneath his hand. “Daddy and I got matching ties for you, isn’t that pretty?”

“No!” she insisted, still grinning. “Me pretty. Daddy and Papa not pretty.” Bucky gasped with faux-horror.

“That’s so mean!” he insisted, blinking quickly as if to fake tears. “Evie, you’re making papa _cry_!”

She giggled and slapped her hands on his cheeks, wiping away his non-existent tears. “Happy! Be happy, happy, happy!”

He let himself laugh again and peppered the side of her face with kisses again.

“Has she been good?” he asked his mother quietly, eyeing up her typical mom-at-the-wedding dress – floral with a big hat.

“A sweetheart,” she confirmed. “You’re gonna be an angel for Nana while your parents are away, aren’t you?”

“No!” she replied, grin wide and toothy. Bucky shook his head again.

“Oh, I love you Evie,” he muttered, for what was probably the millionth time that month. “Is it time yet?”

Winnifred checked her watch. “Almost. Let’s get ready, Steve’s just left for the altar. Oh, I’m so proud of you boys…”

He could see her teary, emotional meltdown approaching, and tugged her forward into a hug with Evie on his hip.

“Wait till the Reception, ma,” he reminded her. “Then you can give us a speech.”

“I’ll settle for crying in the aisles.”

With that, they set off towards the actual ceremony, Bucky’s joy swirling in his stomach instead of the nervous butterflies so many people described. To him, and Steve, apparently, a wedding wasn’t something to be nervous about. Neither one of them worried about the other. He and Steve had already promised one another their lives – already known each other for longer than they hadn’t. Marriage was invigorating. While once he had referred to Steve as his friend, then boyfriend, then _fiancé,_ after that night he could call him, interchangeably, his mate and husband.

That was a thrill Bucky couldn’t wait to explore.

The rehearsal days previously had gone off without a hitch, without so much as a peep from any of the young children – Kate included. Bucky had no doubt they’d both behave today, looking at their good moods for evidence. The only reason they hadn’t included her in the wedding procession was because she was still far too wobbly on her feet – she’d only begun to walk properly at fourteen months.

He wanted to marry his goddamn fiancé already, but he had to wait outside the room for another torturous twenty minutes, entertaining his daughter and nephew while his family waited for the procession to begin. Bucky took the stereotypical role of the ‘bride’ in that instance, but he didn’t mind, didn’t care; he didn’t want to be the one waiting impatiently at the altar to lay his eyes on Steve for the first time. Instead he just waited impatiently outside the room to lay his eyes on Steve for the first time.

The processional music began to play, signalling the fact that everyone had taken their seat and Steve and Sam stood at the altar.

“Finally!” Bucky groaned, taking his mother’s arm and standing out of the view of the doors, so that when they opened, Rebecca, Genevieve, and Joseph could make their way down the aisle. Joseph had a plush red velvet cushion in his hands, the rings tied down beautifully by the red ribbon accompanying it. Winnifred had practiced again and again with different ways of tying them to find the best way and making sure it would come apart easily enough; she had settled on a loose bow – simple but effective.

Rebecca opened the doors and the guests rose to their feet, allowing first Joseph down the aisle unaccompanied, cushion presented proudly on his outstretched hands. He walked slowly, carefully, so as not to drop the cushion, but was old and careful enough to be trusted to walk alone. His toothy grin was caught by the photographer at the aisle, and the back of the view was caught by a second photographer that moved around the side and back of the room.

Rebecca and Genevieve followed, Genevieve holding a small bouquet of little daisies and tulips in one hand. Once again, she had chosen them herself, and no one could bring themselves to deny them. She couldn’t quite walk alone yet, but that didn’t matter, as Rebecca took her hand gently in her right, holding her own bouquet in her left hand.

Joseph reached the aisle and passed the cushion triumphantly to Sam, who bent down and pulled the toddler in for a hug before quietly shooing him away with a smile on his face. Joseph did so, taking his seat on Bucky’s half of the room, as summoned by his father.

When Genevieve and Rebecca reached the aisle, it was Steve’s turn to kneel down and let himself almost be bowled over by the weight of his daughter as she hugged him. His eyes shone a little, wet with tears.

“Hi daddy,” she said loud enough to earn a chorus of quiet _awwing,_

“Hey princess,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek as she pulled away. “Good to see you again. Go take your seat, baby girl.”

“Okay, daddy,” she said, eyes bright and smiling, rooted to her spot. He couldn’t resist pressing another sloppy kiss to her cheek, hand against her soft blonde hair. The photographers managed to catch both of their expressions, and they would become some of their favourites of the day. “I love you.”

“Love you too, princess, now go sit down!” he repeated with a laugh, softening with another peck to her forehead as he got to his feet. It was Rebecca’s turn then to press a sweet, soft kiss to Steve’s cheek in congratulations. She took Genevieve’s hand and took her own seat at the aisle.

And then it was Bucky and Winnifred’s turn.

He didn’t carry a bouquet or anything like that, arms completely bare so he could take both of Steve’s hands in his. Instead, his mother, just like Rebecca and Genevieve, carried one, already tearing up as she caught Steve’s devoted expression from down the aisle.

Oh man. Bucky was gonna cry. _He felt it_.

In a room full of people, all of the eyes were immediately on him, but Bucky just couldn’t care. He knew all of these people well, he could trust these people. He had eyes only for his husband to be.

Steve _did_ look incredible in a blue suit, just as he knew he looked good in black. Before he could even think further than how incredible Steve looked, he was at the altar, hands already unconsciously reaching for his fiancé’s, the minister on Steve’s right.

“Hey,” Steve murmured, sounding a little choked up. Bucky grinned, bright and wide and suddenly _nervous_ – in the best way. Promising his life to Steve? Best decision he’d made since resolving to ask Steve to be Genevieve’s father a lifetime ago (Genevieve’s lifetime ago).

“Hey yourself,” he muttered in reply, trembling in the best way, strongly resisting the urge to press his lips insistently against Steve’s. _Vows, hurry the hell up_. “Ready?”

“Could do this all day,” he retorted, and Bucky refrained from a playful kick.

“Dearly beloved,” the minister began, and they both listened intently despite knowing almost word for word the procession. Neither wanted to miss their cue. “We are gathered here today…”

 

“Do you, Steven Grant Rogers, take James Buchanan Barnes, to be your lawfully wedded husband and omega?”

“I do.” He said, unwavering and strong, eyes holding nothing but a deep appreciation for the word that would become Bucky’s title. _Steve’s husband_ , just as he would be Bucky’s.

“And do you, James Buchanan Barnes, take Steven Grant Rogers, to be your lawfully wedded husband and alpha?”

“I do.” He replied, with the same amount of certainty that Steve exuded.

 

Steve’s vows went like this.

“Ever since I was six years old and I first met you, there were two things I knew for certain about –about my wedding day, if I ever got one.

“First, on the front row, would sit my mother, yours next to her.” his eyes welled up in memory of her. “Both crying because I was getting married.

“Second, you. You would be – you’d be at my back, as my best man, holding my rings, smiling proudly as I said my ‘I do’s’ to whoever I married.

“Turns out I was wrong on both accounts,” he smiled then, an almost self-deprecating shrug, but a smile full of wonder and pure happiness. “Because unfortunately my mother didn’t make it to this day.

“But also – also because I never accounted for the idea that – that you _couldn’t_ be my best man. Because you’d be my groom.” And Bucky laughed then, shaking his head and pulling one hand away to wipe at his cheek.

“So instead of having you as my best man,” he grinned, eyes crinkled at the corners. “I have you as my groom. And instead of having my mother, irreplaceable, instead we have – we have our beautiful daughter Genevieve-”

“Hi daddy,” the little girl said cheerily, and there was a ripple of emotional laughter across the room, Steve wiping his own red eyes as he replied softly, laughing,

“Hi, princess. We – we have her, and really, we owe everything about this day to her.

“And that’s – that’s what I’m promising, here.” He swallowed roughly. “To – to be a good father to our incredible daughter. To be a good husband to you; to love you, like I should have all these years, for the rest of my life, and to hope – to hope that makes up for all those years where we were idiots. I love you, you jerk.”

 

Bucky’s vows went like this.

“You’re – you’re a punk, making me cry right now,” he sniffed, shaking his head and bringing himself to his senses.

“When – when we were young, after we presented, I wondered how – how we’d go on living our lives together, because everything I knew about the world told me we couldn’t be friends anymore. But you were stubborn as a mule about the whole damn thing, and wouldn’t let me wriggle out of your grasp and I’ll never be more thankful for that than I am today, with our whole lives around us, I’m glad you kept me in it.

“And when I joined the army, you were my rock, when I got hit, you stayed with me throughout my recovery, and _then_ through all the crap that piled on after.” He didn’t want to say his name, not at his wedding to the one person that mattered more than any other man in the world. “And you supported my – my decision to have a baby – our baby, Genevieve-”

“Hi papa,” the little girl spoke up again, the emotional laughter returning as his voice trembled.

“Hi, baby girl. I’ll never regret her. I _will_ regret not having her sooner. With you. Because you were the one person in my whole life that I wanted to have a family with, and – and I didn’t connect the dots that that meant I loved you until months later, years too late.

“So – so this is our – our start. And I’ll be with you till the end of the line.”

And Steve’s laughter was accented with the tears sliding down his face, resisting the very urge to kiss his fiancé as passionately as he could get away with.

When the time came for the rings to be placed upon their fingers, untied by the minister and blessed, their hands trembled incredibly hard with emotion.

Steve took Bucky’s hand in his to tremble both his and Bucky’s to give him some semblance of aim.

“Just as this circle is without end,” he murmured, barely loud enough for the procession to hear. “My love for you is eternal. My commitment to you will never fail. With this ring, I thee wed.”

Bucky took almost a whole minute to get the ring on Steve’s finger and the words out of his mouth, so full of emotion that the words would come out as squeaks and he’d have to start over. But he managed it.

When the declaration of _husband and husband, groom and groom, alpha and omega_ , came, they could barely wait until the last syllable of _you may now kiss_ , came from the officiant’s mouth before their mouths were sealed.

The kiss felt no different than any other passionate kiss they’d shared; it was no less devoted, no less loving. Just more _weighted_ , in the best possible way.

The kiss kept being interrupted by their own eruptive, giddy laughter, and one kiss turned into two and three and four before Genevieve, _incredible_ Genevieve shouted,

“Daddy, papa, _yucky_!”

And they broke away with even more giddy laughter, the room on their feet and giving the happy couple applause as they motioned for their daughter to come over. She was all too eager to do so, and certainly did not complain when they peppered her in kisses next.

The photo of them kissing her, one on each cheek, stood proudly at the centre of the mantle for years to come.

 

The reception went over well. Maria had tugged them both into enormous hugs, crying her eyes out with happiness and pregnancy hormones. Sam clapped them both on the back before tugging them in for hugs too, just as Steve had done for them months before.

Angie hadn’t quite hit the emotional part of her pregnancy yet, but that didn’t mean either her or Peggy weren’t shedding a few tears of their own.

Thor’s pat on the back for both of them was very painful, but it made Genevieve _very_ happy to see, so they let it slide.

The Commandos were all to ready to cheer on the happy couple, especially as Dugan’s wife was ‘ _finally getting her own damn way_ ’, in her own words.

Tony’s never ending tirade of _Buck Rogers, over here,_ and _hey, Buck Rogers? Question for ya_ – only served to fuel their incredible realisation of the rest of their lives as Steve and Bucky Rogers.

Kate, Joseph, and Genevieve were all too happy to play together, too. Scott had even brought his daughter, Cassie, and she was Joseph’s age. They easily let her in on their laughter. Steve watched the four of them play together almost longingly, biting one side of his mouth as if deep in thought.

“What are you thinking?” Bucky muttered, left hand interlocking with Steve’s right, pressing his rings into their hands.

“Kids.” He replied, almost predictably. “They’re – they’re so cute.”

Bucky laughed gently, pressing his lips softly to Steve’s neck and mouthing at the skin over his bonding glands, where in only a matter of hours, a mark would lay that matched one that would be on his own.

“When Genevieve turns two, we can start trying,” he repeated, a promise that he and Steve had both made when she was six months old. Not that they had been particularly _careful_ about that promise – neither of them admitted to knowingly forgetting the condoms in the heat of the moment. It was dumb luck he hadn’t gotten pregnant again yet.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, lips turning up into a great big smirk. “But we’re married. Right now, that’s all I care about.”

Bucky was about to reply with something equally as sappy before a loud voice boomed over the speakers in the venue, announcing,

“ _And now it’s time for the happy couple to celebrate their first dance. Welcome Mr. and Mr. Rogers to the dance floor, everyone_!”

“Oh God,” Steve groaned. “Oh my _God_ ,” but he was laughing, and his hands were tugging Bucky’s along to the dance floor, where the slow music was beginning to play.

Their guests stood at the edge of the dance floor, Winnifred holding Genevieve on her hip to keep her still for the time being.

But for that moment, the only thing in their worlds was each other. They pressed close to one another, the photographers clicking away madly as they circled around the floor, balloons surrounding the room as a beautiful backdrop. Their foreheads came to settle together, eyes lost deeply in one another’s before, as if synchronised down to their very cores, they closed, letting each other’s bodies guide them across the dancefloor, love and devotion clear in the tiny but enormous gesture.

“Papa! Daddy!” their daughter’s voice interrupted in the cutest possible way. Winnifred tried to quieten her, but they both snapped their gazes to her. They looked at one another out of the corner of their eyes, and it was all the confirmation Bucky needed to let go of Steve and open his arms out, crouching to the floor as Winnifred settled her on her feet. She ran straight into his arms with a wide, toothy grin, and she settled onto his hip as he stood up.

And they danced together, the three of them. Unorthodox, of course, but _incredible_. Genevieve at their side, nothing mattered more in that moment than their little family.

Neither of them would trade that day for the world.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The honeymoon - and the aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm sorry this took so long. Explanation - I signed up for the Steve Bucky Big Bang and worked on that for a long while. Unfortunately, I dropped out in the second round of claims, since nobody seemed interested in my fic (no hard feelings about that, some fics just aren't for every one). I'll still be posting that one (maybe? Eventually?) but it meant I could work on some of my other fics, like this one, and another fun one I'm working on that's lovingly titled, 'Captain Amerigay' because I am unoriginal at best.  
> But yeah, here's this one, sorry for the ramble, hopefully the next one will be up lotssss quicker!  
> Ps - I'm not replying to all the comments on this one until the last chapter's updated, I'm just suuuuper busy!

“Hey,” Steve twisted his mouth into an approximation of a smile, but the tears in his eyes gave him away. “Come on, princess, be a good girl for daddy?”

“No!” she screeched into his ear, hugging him tightly around his neck as she cried. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“Evie, baby, come on…” Bucky tried to soothe, crouching down to stroke her on the back. “Just a few days, huh? You can be a good girl for nana for a few days, can’t you?”

“No _wanna_!” she continued to cry. “Papa! Daddy _no leave_!”

“It’s not forever, princess,” Steve assured her as she pulled away. He rubbed away some of her tears with his thumbs. “You know how once a week, you stay with Aunt Peggy and Aunt Angie?” he tried, stretching his smile a little wider. “Or – Uncle Sam and Auntie Maria?”

Genevieve sniffled, nodding.

“And how, that one time a few weeks ago, you spent the night at Nana’s?” Bucky added on, and she nodded, wiping away her own tears with the hem of her shirt. “It’s just like that, baby girl.”

“Just like that.” Steve agreed. “Except that instead of one night, it’s four. Can you count for me, princess?”

She sniffed again, nodding as she brought up her left hand, poking each finger with her right. “O-one, t-two, three-e, f-f-our,” She hiccupped.

“And how high can you count, sweetheart?”

“Five, daddy.” She bit her lip.

“And four is less than five, isn’t it?”

She seemed to perk up, the strange logic making sense to her young mind.

“Yeah,” she agreed slowly. “Four, not big as five.” A smile broke out on her face then, lighting up the couple’s day. “Four?”

“That’s right, darlin’,” Bucky assured her, pressing a kiss onto her cheek. “Four days. Four days, and then daddy and papa will be home. You gonna be good for Nana, then?”

“Maybe,” she twisted her lips. “You come home?”

“After four days,” Steve promised her again. “We’re always gonna come home, princess, I promise.”

“I love you,” she muttered then, scuffing her feet against the floor nervously. The way she said it reminded them both so much of when she’d said her first word, so quiet and almost nervous, unlike the enthusiastic and energetic girl they knew she really was.

“We love you too, baby girl.” They both pressed kisses to her forehead, scooping her into a big bear hug, before she toddled back to Winifred’s side and pressed her head into her thigh, watching sadly as they left.

“I miss her already,” Steve fretted, turning over his shoulder to shoot her another reassuring smile. “Can’t we bring her?”

“We didn’t pack anything for her…” Bucky sighed, giving a wistful look towards his daughter. “And there’s nothing there equipped to look after her. Or else I would definitely smuggle her onto the plane.”

“We could,” Steve reminded him. “It’s Tony’s plane.”

For a moment, Bucky actually looked tempted, turning back to his mother and daughter with a longing look in his eyes before he sighed.

“It’ll be good for us all.” He decided at last. Steve sighed, having come to the same conclusion. “Still gonna miss her though.”

“We’ll call her every day.” Steve assured him instead, squeezing his hand tightly and relishing in the feeling of his ring against his finger.

 

“Okay,” Bucky gasped, moaning as Steve’s lips trailed down his chest. “Definitely a good reason to be alone-”

“Don’t –” Steve interrupted, just as breathless and a little strangled. “Jesus – _don’t_ talk about our daughter right now-”

“Sorry – sorry,” he moaned, shuddering when Steve’s lips clamped around one of his nipples. “Mile high club,” he laughed. “Didn’t think you had it in you-”

“ _You’ll_ have it in you in a minute,” Steve growled, making Bucky snicker before moaning again when he slid his underwear from off of his hips.

“Fucking hurry up then!” he insisted, and true to form, Steve shed his clothing and pushed Bucky back onto the bed. (Why did Tony have a bed on his jet? Was it for _this_ purpose? _Don’t think about Tony having sex_ -)

Steve could barely wait longer than it took to stretch Bucky open, and neither could Bucky if his irritated, aroused groans were anything to go by.

“Steve – fuck, fuck – come on, please-” he groaned, writhing on the bed and pulling his husband in for a hot and heavy kiss.

“I – I don’t have-” Steve grumbled in between his kisses, but Bucky just tugged harder.

“Don’t fucking care, _in me_ -”

He certainly did not hesitate.

 

“Can’t believe we fucked on a plane,” Bucky muttered under his breath in the back of the car Tony had arranged for them. Steve snickered.

“Me neither. Think it’s on the agenda for the flight home?”

“It certainly _can be_. Don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed turbulence so much in my _life_.”

 

“Hey, ma, how’s-”

 _“PAPA! PAPA PAPA PAPA PAPA!”_ his little girl screeched into the microphone as soon as she caught his face. Bucky softened instantly, chuckling.

“Hey, baby girl, you being good for Nana?”

“ _Where daddy? Daddy hi!”_ Genevieve grinned widely, face very close the camera. He could hear Winifred laughing in the background.

“Daddy’s coming in a minute, sweetheart,” he chided. “How’ve you been, baby girl?”

_“Papa, Nana gives cookie!”_

Bucky snickered as Winnifred came into view, wide eyed and overly innocent.

_“What? What’s this about cookies?”_

_“Cookie, choc-a-lat!”_ she giggled, and his mother shook her head, shrugging.

“ _No idea what you’re talking about, dear._ ”

“Okay, ma,” he agreed slowly, snickering. “By the way, Evie has crumbs on her shirt.”

“Is your mother giving her cookies again?” Steve demanded playfully, poking his head on the screen. Genevieve started bouncing in place at the sight of him.

“ _Daddy! Daddy have cookie!”_

Steve chuckled, softening from head to toe as he snuggled in next to his new husband and soon-to-be mate.

“I don’t have any cookies, princess, sorry. How are you?”

“ _Good_!” she grinned toothily, but they were interrupted before they could speak by her mouth widening in a hearty yawn.

“Evie…” Bucky said slowly, lightly chastising and playful enough that she smiled in the hopes of not getting in ‘trouble’. While her smile was adorable, it didn’t work. “Is it bedtime?”

“ _No_!” she implored, and Winifred chortled behind her.

“ _Yes it is,”_ his mother assured them. “ _It’s getting late, sweetheart. Come on, time for sleep._ ”

“ _No! Want daddy, papa!”_ Genevieve insisted, smile sliding off her face as she looked sadly into the camera. “ _Hugs?”_

Bucky’s smile slipped into a sad frown. “I can give you a _digital_ hug, baby. Go on, hug Nana’s phone?”

She did so, and Steve and Bucky both made a huge show of hugging the camera back, but when Genevieve sat back, she looked even more upset.

“ _Not same_ ,” she mumbled. _“Bad hug. Want good hug.”_

“I’m sorry, princess,” Steve sighed. “If you ask Nana nicely, she’ll give you a good hug, right Nana?”

_“Absolutely, pumpkin. Want a hug?”_

Genevieve nodded quickly, wiping roughly at her face as her cheeks went ruddy and red with tears. Winnifred tugged her into a hard hug, smoothing down her blonde hair as she shoved her face into her neck. It was sweet, if a little painful to watch.

“Any better, sweetheart?” Bucky asked her as she pulled away. With a smile, she nodded.

“ _Nana gives good hugs. Want daddy hug_.”

“No Papa hug?”

“ _No. No papa. Only daddy.”_ But she was still grinning, so Bucky only shook his head in faux-offense.

“I think it’s time for someone to go to bed,” Steve said pointedly. “Isn’t almost nine?”

“ _That’s right, it is._ Someone _should have been in bed an hour ago_ ,” Winnifred said pointedly. Genevieve just stared up at her with innocent eyes until Winnifred sighed. _“Off to bed. Come on. Night, boys, I hope you enjoy your honeymoon! Say bye to your daddies, Evie_.”

“ _Bye daddy, bye, papa!”_

“Good night, baby,” Steve murmured, chuckling as she leaned forward to kiss the camera before the call ended. As soon as her image was gone from the screen, however, his smile turned a little sadder. “I miss her so much already.”

Bucky sighed, dropping his head onto Steve’s shoulder. “I do too. What’s it been, six hours?”

“Too long.”

“Let’s just go to bed. We’re tired.” Steve just hummed in agreement, having been truly exhausted from the, ahem, _physical_ plane journey as well as the jet lag.

“M’kay.”

 

The next few days were pretty much a blur of laughter, making out, and christening as many rooms in Tony’s Malibu house they could manage (who needs _fifty rooms_ in _one mansion?)_

Every night they called Genevieve to read her to sleep, their frowns deepening each night after they hung up, longing to get their daughter back in their arms. They did very much appreciate the privacy though, especially when it came to the _mating_ part.

If they had had any neighbours, their loud moans would have most certainly gotten a few complaints.

The morning of Bucky’s birthday, the day they were due to fly back, there was only the feeling of relief rather than disappointment or irritation. It made Bucky grateful that they’d decided on a shorter honeymoon, since even a day longer would have been completely unbearable. Damn it, he _missed_ his baby girl. And his home. And his damned job. And his friends.

So Bucky was a family man. Who’d have thunk it.

Still, he was surprised when Steve turned to him on the flight home with a hopeful expression.

“What?” he asked immediately. “We’re not getting a dog yet, we agreed.”

“No, no, not a dog.” Steve took in a sharp breath. “I – I miss Genevieve.”

“Me too,” Bucky replied a little baffled. Steve frowned a little.

“I… I miss when she was a baby, too.” He said a little more forcefully. Bucky sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“We’ve had a great honeymoon. I don’t want to end it on an argument about this.”

Steve frowned even more, leaning over. “It doesn’t have to be an argument if we want the same thing.”

“We want the same thing at different times.” Bucky pointed out. “I’m not ready yet. I said we’d wait until Genevieve was at least two.”

“She turns two in a few months.”

“She’s not two _yet. I’m_ not ready yet, that should be enough of an answer for you.”

“But _why_ aren’t you ready?” Steve demanded hotly. “I see you in the street whenever you see babies, you _love_ them. You can’t wait for Maria and Sam to have theirs, I know you’re excited, so why not now?”

“Because _seeing_ babies and _having_ them are two completely different things! I’m not ready to get pregnant again yet,” he sighed roughly. “It took us six months to have sex again, and it wasn’t just because she had us so exhausted we didn’t have the time. I felt _awful_ for that long. Yes, she’s the most incredible thing in my entire life, and she’s worth every little bit of pain, but I’m not ready to go through it again when she’s still so young. I want to appreciate her a little longer, okay?”

“What difference does a few months make? She’ll be two by the time the next one’s born _anyway_.”

“If we have another one _before_ she turns two, we’ll miss her grow up!” Bucky finally yelled, rubbing at his temples.

“Then why won’t you admit that we aren’t being as careful as we should be?” Steve demanded. “Three times in the last few days alone you’ve _knowingly_ let me go without a condom.”

“You know I went back on birth control when my heats came back.” Bucky hissed in reply. “No, we’re not being as careful as we _should_ be, but we’re still _careful_.” Bucky sighed.

“Besides. She’s my little girl,” he said in a much calmer voice. “I want her to stay that way a little longer. If we have another baby before _she’s_ ready too? We’ll be so busy with the new baby that we might just forget about the one we already have.”

“We’d never do that,” Steve promised softly, scooting closer and slowly taking Bucky’s hand in his. “We just wouldn’t.”

“I’m not backing down on this. I’ll reconsider when she turns two. Maybe sooner, maybe later.” He sighed. “I do want more kids, Steve. But when we’re _all_ ready. Not just you or me. She has to be ready too. Right now she’s just… she’s so used to being our only little girl, she won’t understand yet.”

Steve sighed, seeming to deflate as he realised this battle had already been lost.

“Okay,” he agreed, disheartened. “But you do still want kids. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I do, Steve. I promise.”

 

“DADDY! PAPA!” came the voice they’d been desperate to hear in person, melting as soon as they caught sight of their daughter bouncing up and down in her place.

“Genevieve,” Bucky called, dropping to his knees in front of her and yanking her in for a hard hug. “Oh, I missed you, baby girl.”

“Miss papa,” she sighed against him. “Daddy.”

Steve chuckled, dropping to his knees too and surrounding them both in an even tighter hug. When they pulled apart, Bucky smoothed her hair out of her face, eyes wandering over her adorable little cheeks and blue eyes.

“You been good for Nana?” he asked quietly, shooting a look up at his mother who nodded.

“She’s been a little dear, haven’t you?”

Her smile was absolutely _precious_. He couldn’t resist pulling her onto his hip as he stood up, leaving her giggling the whole time.

“You ready to go home then, princess?” Steve asked her, pecking her on the cheek since she was high enough up. She nodded viciously, settling her head on Bucky’s shoulders.

“Did you have a nice honeymoon?” Winnifred asked as they made their way to the car. “No details, please.”

“Ma,” he chastised. “We had a great time. Tony’s place was _gorgeous_.”

“You were just obsessed with the Jacuzzi,” Steve snickered, pressing a lovesick kiss to his cheek before Genevieve started squawking. “Sorry, princess, I missed you out, didn’t I?” He pressed a sloppier, more playful kiss on her cheek to make her laugh.

“Daddy, yucky,” she laughed, swatting him on the cheek, but leaning away from Bucky and stretching her arms out to Steve instead. Bucky let her go easily, letting her climb on top of Steve’s shoulders.

“She’s been an angel,” Winnifred sighed. “Helped me clean up the living room, didn’t you sweet pea?”

“Yes!” Genevieve screeched, bouncing on Steve’s shoulders. If the alpha didn’t have such a secure grip on her ankles, Bucky would worry that she’d fall. “Dusty!”

“She used the feather duster.” His mother chuckled in explanation, getting to the parking lot of the airport. Bucky looked about him, trying to spot his mother’s car.

“Ma, where’d you park?”

“Oh, over here,” she supplied speeding up and going a little ahead of him, slowing to a halt in front of what looked like a brand new black car. Bucky frowned.

“What, did you call an Uber?” His mother turned then, lips pursed as she tried to stop herself from smiling. “What?” he turned to Steve, trying to figure out what he was missing, only to find his mate looking sheepish. Bucky’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”

“You said you wanted a car-”

“You did _not_!” Bucky screeched, shaking his head frantically. “Steve – _Steve_!”

“Consider it a birthday gift?” he tried to shrug, but Genevieve’s weight on his shoulders prevented him from doing so. Bucky wanted to kiss that stupid grin off his face.

“I hate you _so much_ ,” he gasped. “I can’t believe you did this.” He continued shaking his head as he sauntered over to the driver’s seat, peeking inside and finding flawless leather seats. “Is this _new_?”

“Close to. Couple years old, refurb. Thought you’d prefer that.”

“I hate you.” He wasn’t going to tear up. “Get in the freaking car, I have to drive this thing…”

Steve chuckled, pulling Genevieve off his shoulders as Bucky continued to stare mesmerised. It was only when his mother coughed and passed him the keys that Bucky whirled into action, smoothly sliding into the driver’s seat and staring around him with amazement.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Bucky muttered as Steve got into the passenger seat, his mother sitting aside Genevieve. “I can’t believe this.”

“Happy birthday,” Steve said again, leaning over to press his lips gently against Bucky’s cheek.

“I am going to yell at you _so_ much when we get home, that’s a promise.”

Sure enough, after they took his mother back home, thanked her profusely for taking care of Genevieve, Bucky half glared at his mate.

“I thought our honeymoon was my birthday gift,” he practically whined.

“No,” Steve teased playfully, eyeing up their daughter in the back seat as she played by herself. “That was our _honeymoon_. You said you wanted a new car-”

“You didn’t have to get me one! I was going to wait a little while longer!”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I sold our old one.”

“You did?” Bucky demanded. “Why?”

“This one’s nicer,” Steve shrugged. “And we only need one car.”

“So it’s not really _my_ car?” Bucky grinned, a little too gleeful. Steve’s smile was smug.

“Exactly.”

“You know exactly how to get away with everything, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Genevieve screamed in the back. Bucky’s sigh was content.

This was what he had missed.

 

“I thought we agreed,” Bucky muttered quietly, though his eyes were fond. “That you’d stop going overboard on gifts for us.”

“Are you only calm because you love the car and it’s really for both of us?” Steve looked guileless, and Bucky could rarely ever stay mad at the asshole.

“Yes.” Bucky shook his head simply. “But don’t think this is getting you out of trouble for the rest of it.”

“Rest of what?” Steve shrugged innocently, pecking his husband on the cheek. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should make like Evie and get some sleep?”

“Maybe,” Bucky, admittedly, stifled a yawn. “I missed this so much. And we were only gone a few days.”

“Me too. Now hurry up, I want to sleep with my husband for the first time in _our_ bed.”

“I’m too tired-”

“ _Actual_ sleep, babe.”

 

Maria gave birth only a few weeks later, to an incredible baby boy.

They stood outside the new parents’ apartment with a dish full of lasagne, knowing that they, much like themselves, were unlikely to cook properly until they figured themselves out.

Sam was the one who answered the door, exhaustion in his eyes that sat alongside his ecstasy.

“Hey Sam,” Bucky greeted with a small smile. “Mind if we come in?”

“Oh, right – yeah, yeah, sure, come in…” he muttered as he pulled the door open.

It was quiet inside, which must have been blissful to the new parents, so Steve stepped into the kitchen to put down the dish.

“We brought food,” he murmured to his friend. “Figured you’d appreciate it.”

“We do,” Sam nodded, looking like he was going to fall asleep. Steve and Bucky shared a knowing smile.

“Where is the little guy?” Bucky murmured as he and Sam sat down. The beta twisted his gaze to the hallway, shaking his head a little.

“I think Maria’s got him. Maybe putting him to bed?”

“No, he’s still awake,” Maria sighed, strolling slowly back into the living room. “He’s just not going to sleep, little monster.”

Steve quirked a smile. “Yeah, it’ll be a while before he goes to sleep when you want him to.”

“How long?” Sam pleaded with a joking edge to his tone.

“About eighteen years?” Bucky jibed, and the new parents groaned. There were still smiles on their faces though.

“Where’s Evie?” Maria asked them as she settled slowly next to Sam, wincing as she went.

“With Peg and Angie,” Steve supplied, leaning forward to get a look at the little yellow bundle. His little face was screwed up, just like Genevieve’s had been when she was born, but Steve could see his chocolate brown eyes clear as day, the same colour as Sam’s. “Figured you wouldn’t want a toddler screaming the house down while you’re figuring a baby out.”

“Plus, toddlers carry so many germs. We’d have had to slather her in antibacterial stuff.”

Maria looked almost green at the thought. “Good idea,” she said faintly. Steve chanced a look towards his mate and found his expression softening just as it did whenever he got home from work and Genevieve said hello. Softening just as it did whenever he looked at his daughter. Softened just as it did whenever Steve caught him looking at pictures of his own pregnancy.

“What did you say his name was?” Bucky murmured, leaning unconsciously forward, and smiling at the baby.

“Riley,” Sam replied, voice a little more hoarse than it had been a moment ago. “I still miss him. Want to do right by him, and this felt right.”

“That’s sweet,” Steve sighed.

“His middle name’s Nicholas,” Maria supplied after a minute. “After my dad.”

“That scary eyepatch dude’s name is _Nicholas_?” Bucky raised his eyebrows, and Sam chuckled.

“I thought the same thing.” The father’s eyes fell on his son again then, transfixed once more with the baby boy.

“He’s so cute,” Bucky sighed, and Steve knew he caught the edge of wistfulness to his tone, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly when Bucky returned his gaze. The omega went pink.

“Do you want to hold him?” Maria offered gently, and Bucky stared at her surprised for a moment before nodding, already holding his arms out.

He whined a little as he was jostled into Bucky’s arms, but as soon as the omega cradled him close to his chest he sighed as contentedly as a baby could manage.

Steve knew from the look on Bucky’s face that they were going to have a conversation that the alpha would very much enjoy.

 

“Don’t say anything.” Bucky grumbled as he climbed into the car. Steve smirked.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Yes you were. Fine, the kid was cute.”

“And?” he muttered smugly, clicking his seatbelt in.

“ _And_ I miss Genevieve being that small.”

“And?”

“ _And_ I want to have another baby.”

The only sound in the car was the keys clicking as Steve turned them, car rumbling to life.

“I can’t wait.” Steve murmured in reply, his smile soft and giddy all at once.

“I still want to wait until she turns two,” Bucky huffed, and not even that could dampen Steve’s smile. “But the answer is pretty much definitely a yes.”

“I love you, you know.”

“Ugh, if I’d known you were gonna go all sappy, I’d never have said anything,” he muttered under his breath.

 

“Daddy?” Genevieve murmured, tugging at his sleeve while Steve was working.

“Yes, princess?” he asked absently, eyes still flickering over the screen.

“Is a ba-by?”

Steve paused, brows furrowing together in confusion. “Is a baby?” His daughter nodded fervently. “Is a baby _what_?”

“Is a _ba-_ by?”

Steve sighed, lifting her up by her armpits when she reached up and settled her on his lap.

“I don’t know what you mean. Can you try again?” he asked patiently. Genevieve frowned, sighing before opening her mouth again.

“Will be ba-by?” she mumbled, head tilted adorably.

“Will be baby…” Steve murmured to himself. Talk to a two year old was never uninteresting. “Will there be a baby, you mean?” She nodded fervently, and Steve sat contemplating what she meant. “Are you talking about Aunt Maria and Uncle Sam’s baby? Riley?”

“You baby!” Genevieve grinned widely then, nodding before pointing to herself. “’ike me.”

Steve raised his brows, blinking. “Oh,” he murmured in surprise. “Will there be a baby like you? Like Maria and Sam?”

“Papa have baby!”

Despite himself, Steve laughed.

“Oh, Evie… No, papa’s not having a baby.” He grinned, moving some of her hair out of her face. “Why, do you want daddy and papa to have a baby?”

“Yes!” she grinned, bouncing on his knee and making Steve groan when her foot inadvertently made contact with a particularly sensitive part of his thigh. “Igda _ba_ -beee, sidda!”

She devolved back into her babbling talk that Steve could only pretend to understand, but continued to listen anyway because Genevieve had him wrapped around her little finger.

“I’ll tell you what, Genevieve, why don’t you ask papa for a baby brother or sister? See what papa thinks.”

Bucky’s _so_ going to kill him.

 

“Hey,” Bucky called the minute he got home, door clicking shut behind him. He perked up at the sound of Genevieve squealing at the sound of his voice, toddling into the hallway with Steve at her heels.  “Hey, Evie, Stevie,” he greeted, first peppering Steve’s cheek with a kiss before doing the same to his daughter. “Have a good day?”

“Yah!” his daughter cried insistently, tugging at his trouser leg in excitement. “Papa have _ba-_ by!”

“Genevieve!” Steve scolded playfully, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes. She just giggled. Bucky raised a brow.

“Steve…” he said warningly, but it didn’t have as much of an effect as he’d have liked; he’d already told the man he wanted another baby, after all.

“I didn’t put her up to this,” Steve swore with a grin. “I really didn’t.”

“I hate you so unbelievably much,” Bucky grumbled. “Couldn’t wait till I even got in the door before you’re whinin’ for a baby.”

“But you still love us,” Steve teased, crowding against Bucky and dropping sloppy kiss on his mate’s cheek.

“I gotta,” Bucky agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo, it's been a while...  
> I went on a three-week programme thing, and I had breaks in between that I assumed I'd be able to write within, but... I was wrong... I was exausted...   
> But! Here's the last chapter in this work!  
> I kind of felt like It was going in about 50 different directions, but I kind of wanted to show the different parts of their lives with their daughter, and how their lives are always changing etc etc. Hopefully it's not to OTT.

“Asshole’s always gotta get his own way,” Bucky mumbled under his breath, wrapping the test in tissue as he shoved it into his pocket. He was going to have to slip it into a public trash can on the way home, since he definitely couldn’t put a positive pregnancy test in the men’s bathroom at work, when he was one of only two omega men on the floor.

And Peter was their media intern. At seventeen. Needless to say, once it was uncovered, he’d have a lot to answer for.

But…

He was _pregnant_. His birth control must have sensed his desire to have another baby and just collapsed in on itself, leaving his and Steve’s lack of protection to do its job and hey ho, Genevieve’s going to be a big sister.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Bucky mumbled, eyes on his still flat stomach. “I’m very, very happy about you. But you were supposed to wait a couple more weeks.”

He sighed to himself, flushing the toilet as he left the stall and washed his hands. Genevieve’s birthday was only a few days away, too, so this kid was probably going to be an early riser.

Fortunately for him, Steve hadn’t been overly suspicious about his ‘stomach bug’, only mildly concerned and more worried that Genevieve might catch it. No doubt if he’d had any suspicion that Bucky might be pregnant, the omega would be dealing with Steve excitedly pushing as many tests as he could find towards him.

Hesitating for a moment, sparing a glance to the door, Bucky pulled out his phone and dialled a number he hadn’t called since Genevieve was born.

“I’d like to make an appointment with Doctor Montgomery,” Bucky supplied when the desk clerk answered. He heard the faint sound of keys clicking.

_“There’s an opening this afternoon at three thirty. What’s the reason for the appointment?”_

“Positive pregnancy test,” he sighed, furrowing his brow. He’d brought the car today since Genevieve had been asleep that morning, so he could drive himself.

“ _Is three thirty alright, sir?_ ” the man asked on the other end of the line, and Bucky contemplated it for a minute before nodding.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”

“ _Can I take your name?”_

“James Barnes-Rogers.”

He hung up after that, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he left the restroom. ON his way back to his office, he knocked at Dugan’s door, poking his head through.

“Hey, boss,” he greeted. “I need to duck out early, got to see a doctor about this stomach bug.”

“Fine by me,” Dugan waved him off, eyes on his computer. “What time?”

“Three thirty. I’ll make up the time tomorrow.”

“Sure, sure.”

With that, Bucky returned to his desk and texted Steve, letting him know he’d be a little late home that night.

_Got appt w/ doc for stomach bug_

_Be late home tonight, dont let evie worry_

**You want me to come with?**

**Peg and ang could look after evie?**

_no I’m okay_

_i got the car anyway_

**Okay let me know what doc says**

**Evie says she loves you btw**

_don’t you love me?_

**Do I gotta?**

_yeah!_

**Then sure, bud, ily**

_heartfelt_

“Mr. Rogers,” came the familiar, warm voice of Doctor Montgomery as Bucky entered the room. Bucky smiled at her.

“Just Bucky’s fine,” he assured her. “You’ve seen enough of me to at least call me that.”

“Alright,” she nodded with a smile. “Bucky. So you’ve had a positive pregnancy test?”

“Yeah, just today.” He nodded, biting his lip.

“And the nurse took a blood sample?”

“About ten minutes ago,” he confirmed, checking his watch.

“Shouldn’t be too long before we get a result then,” she assured him. “We have our own lab now, so it’s quicker than a hospital. You caught us on a quiet day, too.”

“That’s good,” he tapped his foot nervously, and she caught the movement.

“Does your husband know?”

Bucky sighed as he shook his head. “No, not yet. I’ve been on birth control, so it must have failed, and I only took the test today, and don’t want to get his hopes up. And… I want it to be a surprise.”

“Ah,” her smile returned to her face, nodding. “I can understand that. I need to ask a few preliminary questions, I’m sure you remember how this goes…”

To Bucky’s relief, ease and instinct settled in after that, allowing him to relax enough that, when she announced that his blood test had been positive, Bucky could only rejoice.

“I can do a quick dating scan now,” she told him, glancing at the time. “I have no patients after you until four thirty.”

“Sure,” he agreed easily.

Just like when he’d seen Genevieve’s first scan, Bucky melted, wishing he had brought Steve after all as he stared as his second little bean.

“Looks like you’re about nine weeks gone,” she informed him, noting down the information. “Since this is your second pregnancy, expect to start showing sooner than with Genevieve.”

“Okay,” he nodded, eyes still lingering on his baby.

“You know more or less how everything goes after this point, so I’ll make an appointment with you for twelve weeks, and I hope your husband will be able to come along this time.”

With that, Bucky started clearing off the gel and got to his feet, thanking her and taking the offered print of the ultrasound and leaving.

On the way home, he internally spun some story about how his stomach bug was clearing up but the doc hadn’t prescribed him anything. He also started trying to figure out how to tell his mate about it; no doubt he’d be over the moon.

With a start, he remembered that Steve’s birthday was only two weeks after Genevieve’s. Provided he could keep it quiet for that long… he could give Steve the best birthday gift he could ask for.

“I’m home,” he called distractedly, closing the door with a click. Genevieve was the first to scream her greetings, managing to spill her juice down her front when he went into the living room.

“What did the doc say?” Steve asked, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s cheek in greeting as he got close enough, already kneeling down to clear up the spilt juice.

“Stomach bug, like I said.” He sighed. “Couple more days and it’ll clear itself up.”

“No antibiotics?” Steve asked, brows furrowing.

“Nah, it’s almost over anyway. No point if I’m almost better.”

Steve hummed discontentedly but didn’t argue, wiping away some of the sticky, drying juice from Genevieve’s face as she started to whine.

“Anyway,” he dismissed himself. “Did you guys have a good day?” he glanced pointedly at the dark circles under Steve’s eyes and how unusually cranky Genevieve was.

“She refused to take her nap,” Steve sighed. “And I hardly got any work done. Not a good day for any of us, huh.”

“I got her for now. You go get what you need to done.” Steve looked immensely grateful, giving him another peck on the cheek before taking his leave. They’d been there many times before, after all.

 

Genevieve’s birthday passed without incident, the only tears ones of joy as she hugged her new toys close to her chest and sobbed, cuddling them all close.

Neither of them could ever get over how sweet she was, ‘sharing’ her cake with Bucky and getting it smeared on his face, letting Steve help her blow out her candles. She’d even fallen asleep on top of Bucky, wrapped in her new Peppa Pig blanket that Peggy and Angie had bought for her.

“I’m gonna get her to bed,” Bucky whispered, supporting her with one hand as he got to his feet. Steve nodded, clearing up the mass amounts of wrapping paper.

She was light as a feather as he carried her, so he didn’t worry about the extra weight, instead settling her onto her crib and pulling her blanket on top of her new one, tucking her in gently. He pressed his lips to her forehead with a murmured, ‘Night, princess,’ and flicked on her night light, leaving her door cracked open like they always did.

He hadn’t expected Steve to crowd him against the kitchen counter as he cleared off the plates, peppering the side of his face with soft, slow kisses.

“You’re sucking up to me,” he teased, grinning because he knew exactly what Steve was trying to do.

“Mhm,” Steve hummed. “Evie just turned two.”

He sighed, knowing Steve couldn’t see the smile on his face.

“So she did.” He murmured, tilting his head so that Steve’s lips could travel down to his pulse point. “What about it?”

“You know what you said,” Steve rumbled, voice soft.

“I think it’s coming to me…” he twisted in Steve’s grasp to face him, pressing his own lips to Steve’s teasingly. “Hmmm. I’m still on birth control.”

Which was pretty much useless in doing its job. It didn’t annoy Bucky as much as he thought it would – he’d wanted another baby anyway, after all, so…

“Stop taking it?” Steve suggested softly, almost pleading. “How long will it take to flush out your system?”

“A few weeks,” he lied, since it didn’t matter how long it _did_ take. He was already freaking pregnant. He almost gave up the whole thing at the look of disappointment on Steve’s face, but he managed to reel it in.

“But – we can?” Steve looked like a little Labrador.

“Yeah, Stevie. We can.”

 _We already_ are.

 

“Happy birthday, old man!” Sam cheered, him being the one to rub a party hat onto Steve’s head.

“Cut it out!” Steve chuckled, batting his hand away half-heartedly. “And I’m twenty-nine, not fifty!”

“Semantics!”

Genevieve giggled the whole time, having attached herself to Sam’s left leg and squealing with delight any time he looked at her. Safe to say, she had her favourite uncle. Clint was pretty jealous, especially when Kate started to do the same to Sam’s other leg.

“They’re just having some fun,” Bucky teased. “And besides. Kate’s just copying Evie since she doesn’t know much better.”

“Why’s Sam the favourite uncle?” he complained as if Bucky hadn’t spoken. “Evie sees me more than Sam!”

“That’s probably why,” he pointed out. “Sam’s been busy with Riley the past few months. They’re probably soaking up quality time with their missing uncle. Don’t worry about it – you know that Katie will be crying as soon as you leave for more than ten minutes.”

“Right!” Clint agreed, suddenly cheering up. “Where is the kid, anyway? Haven’t seen the little guy in a couple weeks – there he is!”

Bucky looked in the direction Clint was glancing towards, smiling as he saw Bruce with the baby in question approaching their table.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked with a smile, already halfway to sitting. Bucky waved at the chair, a universal _sure._

“Hi, buddy,” Bucky leaned over as soon as the kid was close enough. “How’s it going?”

The kid smiled at him, making Bucky sigh, melting. “Cute little shit,” he muttered under his breath.

 “Nat and I are thinking about having another kid, you know.” Clint said conversationally, with a dopey smile on his face. Bucky blinked at him, pleasantly surprised.

“Really?” Bruce asked with a grin. “Looks like you guys are gonna keep me in business for a few years at least.”

“No kidding,” Bucky agreed.

“Yeah,” Clint nodded. “She says _she_ doesn’t want to carry them, but that’s more than fine by me.”

“That’s great,” Bucky told him earnestly, almost telling Clint about his own bundle of joy, but he had yet to tell anyone but the doctor about it, and people were going to find out in about twenty minutes anyway.

“Not yet, though, not until Katie-Kate’s two.”

Bucky snorted. “Good luck with _that_ one. Steve was hounding me the whole three months before Evie’s birthday, because that’s when we said we’d start trying again too.”

“And you resisted _that_ face?” Clint marvelled sarcastically.

“Do you see a baby bump?” he snickered, diverting the conversation and making Clint laugh. He turned to check on the kids behind him, sighing long-sufferingly as he caught Genevieve eyeing up a vase of plastic flowers with a particularly hungry look in her eyes. “Evie!” he hollered. “Don’t eat those, they’re not food.”

“Wasn’t gonna!” she insisted, turning on her heel and running towards him without hesitating, launching herself onto his lap. He grunted as she landed.

“And I told you, you gotta be careful about running inside.”

“Sor-ry pop. Daddy get present now?”

“Not yet, sweetheart,” he sighed, tugging her gently so that she sat more comfortably on his lap and also managed to hide his stomach. He’d worn one of his loosest shirts, since the doc had definitely been right about showing sooner. For eleven weeks, he looked like he had when he was about eighteen weeks with Genevieve. If Clint had looked hard enough, he might have noticed, but that was the beauty about drawing attention to it – nobody took you seriously.

He was really lucky Steve hadn’t noticed yet – though not for lack of trying. When Steve said he looked like he was putting on some weight, Bucky threw a fit and slept in the spare bedroom. He’d felt guilty when Steve bought him a gift and an ‘I’m Sorry,’ card as an apology for ‘calling him fat’, but in his defence, Steve _had_ implied he was getting fat. It also meant that Steve didn’t try to spoon him and therefore wrap his hands around Bucky’s small, but albeit there, baby bump.

“Can have cake?”

“No, you cannot have cake. Cake’s for _later_.”

“But Kate have cake!” Genevieve whined, and both Clint and Bucky straightened, whipping their heads to the food table where, sure enough, Kate had red icing all over her face from the cupcakes.

“Kate!” Clint called, sounding more put out than anything as he darted over to her. “That is for _later_!”

“But-”

“No buts! You are going to go over to Uncle Steve _right now_ and apologise,” he grumbled as he took a napkin and wiped at her face. When Kate whined, “I’m sorry, but you got it _all over your face_ , I gotta clean it off so you don’t get eaten by the candy-monster.”

Despite her red face, Kate half-giggled. “ _Can_ -dy-monster?”

“Mhm,” Clint nodded sagely. Bucky and Bruce watched on in amusement, Genevieve too busy making faces at Riley to take much notice. “The candy-monster is mad that you took his cake before he said you could. So to make up for it, you gotta apologise to Uncle Steve. Or he’ll eat you. See how easy it is to not get eaten?”

“Okay!” Kate agreed, determined as, with one last swipe of the napkin, she set off in Steve’s direction. “Unc-Stee!”

“Nice job,” Bucky teased as Clint made his way grumpily back to the table.

“Sorry,” he apologised. “I should have been watching her. She got more on herself than she ate, though.”

Bucky shrugged. “She’s fine, she’s a kid. Trust me, Evie was just the same, weren’t you pumpkin?”

“No!” she cried with a smile on her face. Clint rolled his eyes, grinning.

“Kids are nightmares. Why the hell do I want more?” Clint muttered under his breath.

“Beats me.”

“Time for the presents!” Tony announced in his all-too-important voice, making the majority of the partygoers groan.

“Tony,” Steve chastised, coming to sit next to Bucky with Kate on his hip. “Look what I found.” He gestured to the toddler in his lap with a grin, but as soon as she noticed her mother taking her seat opposite Steve, she quickly started to crawl out of his lap. “Aw.” He complained, pouting exaggeratedly and making sure Genevieve saw him. “Looks like now _no one_ wants to cuddle me!”

“I cuddle!” Genevieve squealed instantly, knobbly knees jabbing Bucky in the thigh as she crawled out of his lap onto Steve’s.

“I suppose…” Steve sighed, but grinned as Genevieve nestled herself into Steve’s chest. “You wanna help me open some presents, baby?”

“I help daddy,” she sighed in agreement. Tony snickered as he watched them, putting down the first present, and after that, it just devolved into a relatively peaceful gift-opening session.

Steve managed to get a pretty decent haul; a new set of clothes from Bucky’s mother, a ‘best dadey’ card from Genevieve, a new tablet from Bucky himself, and a whole lot of other stuff from their friends that they surely spent forever looking for. For god’s sake, Jane and Thor bought him a first edition print of ‘Of Mice and Men’ – one of Steve’s favourite books.

“Looks like that’s the last of it,” Tony harrumphed, looking disappointed; Bucky noticed more and more these days that Tony tended to enjoy showering people with attention – _anyone_ with attention. Be it the kids, or Jane’s dogs. Bucky wondered if that was why he had so many friends – he didn’t want to be lonely.

“Actually, it’s not.” Bucky admitted, turning a little pink as all eyes swivelled to him. He reached for his jacket’s inside pocket, grasping a small, square box and placing it delicately in front of Steve.

“Buck,” Steve grumbled, “You didn’t have to get me-”

“Just – just open it.” Bucky interrupted with a tentative smile. Everyone’s curiosity was piqued – from his mother to Riley, who watched the present with wide eyes. It was probably because it was bright red.

“Merry Chris-mas daddy!” Genevieve interrupted suddenly, pointing at the green bow on top of the present and, yeah, in hindsight, red and green did look particularly Christmassy.

“Oh, no, baby, it’s not Christmas,” Steve looked down at her, her enormous smile dwindling slightly as laughter erupted from around them.

“No?”

“No,” Bucky cut in. “It’s daddy’s birthday. How about we watch daddy open his last present, huh?”

“Oh,” she looked disappointed, the adorable kid. “Okay. Open, daddy.”

“I will, princess,” he assured her, kissing the crown of her head as he finally reached for the gift.

He pulled the ribbon first, careful and delicate. When it slid off, Genevieve quickly picked it up and started playing with it. They all kept a half-eye on her, but most of their attention was on the box as the lid lifted, revealing-

“Uh… This is a little small for me, Buck.” He snarked, pulling out the new baby onesie. “Is this Genevieve’s? Is this the right present?”

“No, and yes.” He answered, breath coming out a little shaky as Steve’s eyes caught the piece of paper at the bottom of the box. Bucky didn’t let his gaze wander, but knew that some of the others had already caught along.

“Buck…” Steve’s voice matched his breath, trembling and uneven as he reached tentatively for the little photograph. “This – is this-” he snapped his gaze up to Bucky’s eyes bright and wide. “Are you-?”

He laughed nervously as he nodded, shrugging.

“Bucky,” Steve whined, half to tears already. “If this – if this is a joke-”

“It’s not,” he swore, eyes crinkling with how wide his smile stretched. “I promi-”

Next thing he knew, Genevieve was squealing as she was wedged between her parents, his face being smothered with Steve’s lips as much as the alpha could reach. Bucky was laughing, half pushing Steve away so they stopped crushing their daughter, but the toddler was only amused by the whole thing, demanding that Bucky cuddle her too.

Not long after that he was ambushed by his mother, closely followed by his sister, until he and Steve were in the middle of an enormous group hug and Bucky –

Bucky couldn’t be happier.

 

“Pa-pa?” Genevieve sighed as Bucky tucked her into her cot.

“Yeah, princess?” he murmured quietly.

“Is there baby?”

Bucky laughed quietly, leaning down to peck her on the forehead.

“Yeah, there is. Just like Riley. Is that okay?”

“Am sister?”

“Yeah, sweetie,” he grinned again, smoothing her blonde hair down. “You’re gonna be a big sister. How’d you like that?”

“Is good,” Genevieve breathed, eyes closing gently. It was past her bedtime by a long shot – they were lucky she wasn’t particularly cranky, but she seemed to welcome the idea of another baby.

“Good night, Genevieve,” he whispered to her, giving her one last kiss on the forehead before turning out her bedroom light, flicking on her nightlight after.

He’d felt like he was on cloud nine most of the rest of the night. Steve had looked on the verge of tears multiple times, as had Bucky’s mother, and Steve seemed to welcome the change from birthday wishes to congratulations.

In all, he thought Steve had had more or less the perfect night. Especially when he crawled underneath the bed covers, only to be pulled into a hard hug against Steve’s body.

“You not done, huh?” he teased breathily, and in response Steve just planted a deep kiss onto his lips, rolling Bucky onto his back after a few seconds.

“Evie asleep?”

“Yeah,” he whispered, heart racing as Steve settled himself between his legs. Despite Steve’s heat only a moment ago, he slowly skimmed his hands beneath Bucky’s shirt and pulled it over his head. There, the very bump he was trying to hide was on full display to his mate.

“Beautiful,” Steve marvelled, hands coming to settle on the little protrusion like it was gold. “I can’t believe you hid this from me…”

“Wanted to surprise you,” Bucky mumbled, pulling himself to a sitting position to drop a sweet kiss on Steve’s lips. “Knew how much this meant, thought you deserved a nice surprise.”

“How far are you?” Steve was desperate to know, shifting Bucky further and further back until they hit the headboard. “How long have you known?”

“Eleven weeks. And since a few days before Evie’s birthday.”

Steve’s laughter was breathy and triumphant. “I win.” He said simply.

“Yes, you do,” Bucky agreed, deciding enough was enough for the verbal foreplay, spreading his legs as a pretty clear indication of what he wanted. “Happy birthday.”

“It is,” Steve rumbled, dipping down to Bucky’s neck and nipping over the mating bite. “Fuck, you’re perfect-”

“You’re just saying that,” Bucky chuckled, rocking his hips up. “Because I’m having your baby. Again.”

“Everything about you is incredible,” Steve ignored him, sliding his hands beneath Bucky’s hips and slowly tearing his slacks from his body. “ _Everything_.”

“Shut up and take your clothes off,” Buck grumbled half-heartedly, taking the opportunity to nip at Steve’s ear. Thankfully, the alpha did as instructed, winding his shirt off and throwing it into a corner as he shimmied out of his own slacks.

“I love you,” Steve murmured like a prayer, lips sliding down Bucky’s chest to dance just beneath his bellybutton, making Bucky’s hips quiver in anticipation.

“Love you too,” Bucky whined, “Now hurry up.”

“I was talking to the baby, but whatever.” His mate snickered, but obliged. Bucky didn’t even hesitate before lining up Steve’s cock and lowering his hips. “Fuck, _Bucky_!” Steve cursed. “I wanted to slow down-”

“Too slow,” Bucky snickered, “But shut up, Evie’s sleeping an’ we can’t wake her-”

“Don’t talk about our daughter during sex!” Steve hissed, pointedly thrusting hard and making Bucky practically choke on his own tongue.

“I will if you promise to do that aga- _oh fucking god_ -” he let his eyes roll back as he raked his nails down Steve’s arms. “Like that, fuck-” he linked his ankles together over Steve’s back and just let the alpha go to _town_.

He wished he could have lasted longer, to really enjoy the way Steve crowded him into the bed and fucked him _hard_ , but Steve had always been a little _too_ good and was nailing his prostate in the best fucking way.

“I’m coming,” Bucky shuddered, nails digging into Steve’s skin; he didn’t let up, even after their bodies were splattered with Bucky’s come, even after Bucky’s moans turned into breathless whines from overstimulation. He didn’t stop until his own climax erupted, knotting them together and once again pressing against Bucky’s prostate. “Shit, fuck, _Steve_ …” he whined, panting as he half-melted into the bed as he shimmied down. “You’re a fucking bunny, Jesus…”

“Got excited,” Steve mumbled into his neck. “Happy birthday to me…”

“You oaf,” Bucky complained, but he was the one to tug Steve’s lips to his.

“Was that okay?” Steve muttered half-heartedly, knowing that by now Bucky would have certainly told him to stop if it wasn’t. He _had_ in the past, after all.

“Of course,” Bucky snorted, tapping on Steve’s side and grunted as Steve obliged, lying on his side. His hands snaked between them to settle on Bucky’s stomach, and the omega’s smile softened. “You really didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t. I feel like an idiot, lookin’ at you now… oh god, I called you fat!”

“Well, technically you just called me ‘big’. Which, really, was worse.”

“I thought, I don’t know, you were overcompensating and eating more! I didn’t know you were…”

“Pregnant. ‘S okay. I did look a little pudgy at first anyway.” He sighed, smile overcoming his features. “We’re havin’ another baby, Stevie.”

“Yeah,” Steve whispered, his own smile even wider. “We are. I love you.”

 

“I wanna know what we’re having,” Steve blurted suddenly as Bucky reached for the door handle. Bucky paused, turning to stare at him.

“What?”

“I – well…” Steve swallowed. “I just… it was nice not knowing with Genevieve. It was incredible – I didn’t care whether she was a boy or a girl – still don’t – but… I feel like with the baby… it might make a difference to her.”

“How’d you mean?” Bucky considered, turning it over in his mind.

“She… I mean, as excited as she is when we talk about it, she doesn’t really know what’s going on. If we tell her for nine months she’s having a little brother then we come home with a sister, she’s gonna be too confused.”

He mulled over it for a moment, nodding slowly. “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed as he pushed his door open. “It’s not just us now, it’s them both.”

“Really?” Steve scrambled out of the car afterwards, eyes wide and hopeful as he made his way over to his mate.

“Yeah, I mean… we want Evie to be a part of all this. This is the least we can do to make it easier for her.”

Bucky slid his hand into Steve’s.

“Thanks,” Steve murmured, pressing a swift kiss to his cheek before pulling them forward. “Now we’re gonna be late.”

 

“A boy,” Steve laughed breathily, thumb circling the blurry image of the baby. “We’re – we’re having our first son.”

“Henry,” Bucky murmured, a half-chuckle, gaze set on the image of their son. “Are we naming him Henry?”

“We said we would,” Steve replied, leaning forward in the car to envelop Bucky in a bone-crushing hug. “Buck…”

“Shut it, you sap,” Bucky sniffed, but gave his husband a hard squeeze before pulling away. “We gotta tell Evie the good news.”

 

 

“Buck…”

Bucky snapped to attention, freezing as he was halfway to standing, baby uncomfortably pressing on his bladder. At six months pregnant, he was practically the size of a whale. Steve sounded _guilty_.

“What did you do?” he demanded irritably. He needed to pee, _badly_.

“I didn’t do anything,” he defended immediately, but sighed, sitting beside Bucky a very concerted distance away. “I just… I just got off the phone with Hank Pym.”

“You have to go to Cali again,” Bucky sighed, closing his eyes with a sigh as he massaged his stomach. “Look, let me go pee and we can have this conversation when I come back.”

Sure enough, after his brief pee-interval, he came back in a much cheerier mood.

“Okay,” he huffed, groaning as he lowered himself onto the couch slowly, head twisted to the corner where Genevieve was playing with her toy bow, courtesy of Clint. “Evie, make sure you aim it away from anything that might break.”

“Okay, Papa,” she sang, before letting a toy arrow loose – onto the carpet. Her aim wasn’t that advanced yet, so Bucky assumed they were safe.

“Back to what we were saying,” Steve was biting his lip, tapping his foot nervously. “I have to go to Cali again. You and Evie can come, but…”

“But that’s probably not a good idea,” Bucky shook his head. “Once again, the idea of being on a plane while six months pregnant, with a two year old this time? A lot to handle. But it’s your job. You haven’t been since she was a few months old, so you need to go at some point.”

“You don’t want me to..?” Steve shot a pointed look to his stomach. Bucky narrowed his eyes.

“I’m sure we had this conversation last time. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Last time, we didn’t have a two year old.” Steve pointed out. Bucky rolled his eyes.

“My mother is perfectly willing to help out, and you know she is. Damn it, she’ll be kicking the door down to spend time with Evie.”

Steve certainly didn’t look happy about it, but nodded. “They want me in on Saturday, they’ve got a flight booked for Friday.”

“That’s fine, Stevie. This is your job. You _like_ doing this – and what about that client in Cincinnati you were telling me about?”

“It’s going well,” Steve hedged, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, she’s a little pedantic, but most of them are. So you’re really okay with this? Again?”

“Of course I am,” he tugged his mate into his side, and Steve pressed his nose instantly to Bucky’s neck. “You know we’re gonna be okay. Right, Evie?”

“Left!” she yelled back with her toothy grin.

They snorted.

“Good girl,” Steve muttered, breath pulsing against Bucky’s neck. “Know your lefts and rights.”

 

It’s just Bucky’s luck that the night Steve is away for the first time in two years is also the night that he gets one of the worst nightmares he’s had in almost that long.

He woke with a harsh gasp, still lying on his side, tears streaming down his face as the images of the war came to the forefront of his mind. Bucky couldn’t believe that he’d had another one – he’d been doing well for almost a year, and he had no idea what could have triggered the dream.

It was enough, though, that he was wide awake at 2:44, instinctively reaching for his mate that, through a twist of fate, wasn’t there when Bucky really needed him.

He half-growled, half-sobbed to himself, rubbing tears roughly from his face as he reached for his phone. Steve might still be awake, being almost midnight in California, but he didn’t care even if he wasn’t. Steve would only get upset when he came home that Bucky didn’t call him.

“ _Bucky_?” Steve called blearily from the other end of the line, sounding panicked and tired. “ _Are you okay?”_

“Did I wake you?” Bucky mumbled hoarsely, breath stuttering between every word. “I’m sorry… I had a nightmare. You… you weren’t here…”

 _“Oh,”_ Steve breathed, a world of heartbreak into a single syllable. “ _Oh, Buck,_ no _…”_

“I know,” he hiccupped. “Pathetic… the one time you’re not here, I need you. Can’t even last two days.”

 _“It’s not your fault,”_ Steve insisted fiercely. “ _Tell me about the nightmare, baby. What happened? Was it – your arm again?”_

“A little… it was just – all of it, I thought I was over all this – May said I didn’t need to go as much anymore, so – so I must be _over_ all this-”

_“Baby, you know that’s not how it works. That’s not how this works, you know it. You’ve still been getting nightmares, just not as bad as this. It’s okay that this happens, babe. You knew from the start this could happen, your IRT helped a lot.”_

“Not when you were away!” he cried pettily. “And this wasn’t the same dream that IRT stopped, it was – it was just…”

He hiccupped again, but he felt a hard, yet somehow soothing hit coming from the inside of his stomach. He took a shaky breath.

“Henry’s trying to tell me he’s okay, I think,” he tried to laugh, trembling and nervous. Steve’s sigh was half- comforting.

“ _I’m sorry I’m not there. Focus on Henry, okay? He needs you to be okay. It was just one nightmare. I know it was bad, Buck, I_ know _. Maybe make another appointment with May? Start on a new round of IRT?”_

“It was just one nightmare,” he parroted back, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The nightmare replayed over his eyes again, and he didn’t think he was going to sleep again tonight. “If it happens again, I’ll consider it, but it was just one nightmare.”

_“That’s right, sweetheart. Wanna tell me about it, really tell me?”_

“… You might be here a while,” he shuddered, swallowing.

_“I don’t care.”_

“Thank you,” Bucky murmured with a quiet, trembling breath. With that, he slowly wove his nightmare into the open space using the only words he could call to mind, feeling an immense pressure on his chest lifting with each sentence.

Steve was what he needed at a time like this.

 

Genevieve woke up at eight in the morning, calling for Bucky to make her breakfast.

He was still reeling from his nightmare, though, and walked like a zombie to the kitchen, Genevieve excitedly rambling at his feet.

“Hey, princess?” he said hoarsely, garnering her attention almost instantly.  He grimaced as a squatted to get closer to eye-level with her. “Papa isn’t feeling good today.”

“Feel bad?” Genevieve whined, her happy smile melting into a wide-eyed frown. “Pop feel good. No bad.”

He laughed a little; the toddler version of ‘Don’t be sad – be happy!’ was much more endearing.

“I know, baby. How about we have a quiet day today? Since daddy isn’t here. We can stay in papa’s room and watch cartoons all day. Would you like that?”

“’treet?” Genevieve livened up, smiling a little. “Ses-treet?”

“All the Sesame Street you want, baby.” He encouraged, feeling better already as her smile bloomed across her face. “I’ll just make you some breakfast.”

He was too lucky to have such an incredible daughter.

Having her cuddle against him all day, nap with him, was just the right cure for his nightmare.

 

“DADDY!” Genevieve screeched, tears on her ruddy cheeks as she sprinted off in Steve’s direction. Bucky waddled after her as fast as he could manage.

“Evie! Don’t run faster than I can follow!” he bemoaned, but even he couldn’t deny the relief at having Steve back home.

As Steve and Genevieve met, he slid down to his knees, dropping his bag, and caught her as she leapt in for an enormous hug; his eyes were closed, and he turned his mouth towards her dirty blonde hair, pressing a long, relieved kiss to her head as he tugged her close.

“Miss daddy!” she was crying into his ear as Bucky got closer. “Daddy back, he back!”

“Yeah, he is.” Bucky agreed softly. Steve opened his eyes and grinned even wider as he caught sight of his husband.

In one smooth motion, Steve got to his feet, pulling Genevieve, now part octopus, onto his hip, stepping forward to tug Bucky in for a hug too. The omega laughed, pecking Steve on the cheek as he hugged as tightly as he could manage with the blimp between them.

“How’s Henry?” he asked under his breath.

“He’s fine,” Bucky assured him, grinning as Steve smoothed his shirt out anyway. “Genevieve missed you, didn’t you?”

“Daddy stay,” she sighed, stuffing her face into Steve’s neck. “No leave. Stay.”

“I’m staying, puppy,” he assured her, taking a slow step forward as he reached for his bag.

“Home?” Genevieve mumbled into his neck, eyes wide and hopeful.

“Yeah,” Bucky agreed. “Let’s go home.”

 

 

At almost eight months gone, Bucky was starting to dread waking up in the morning. It was easily the worst part about the day, because he had to actually get out of bed. Get away from the nice feeling of having his feet up, away from being warm and snuggled in with his mate, away from the quiet of the household asleep. He hated it.

So, with a groan, he pulled himself to a sitting position, yawning and slapping off his alarm, elbowing Steve grumpily in the face.

“Up,” he griped. “Make me somethin’ to eat while I shower, would you?”

He was halfway to his feet without waiting for a response, because it was always the same, except-

“ _Ughhh…_ ” his mate groaned, sounded particularly tired considering he’d conked out at nine the night before.

“Quit your whinin’,” Bucky rolled his eyes, stumbling to the bathroom before he shot a look at his husband and stopped.

He’d hauled himself against the headboard, but Bucky didn’t like what he saw; his part-Irish complexion – already pretty pale – had gone practically colourless but for grey. His eyes seemed to have soaked up all that extra redness, being bloodshot and blinking furiously against the light.

“Steve,” he said, concerned. He sat on the edge of the bed on Steve’s side, fretting as he leaned over and felt the alpha’s head like a concerned mother. “You’re burning up, Jesus!” he exclaimed with a sigh. “You’re not getting out of bed, go back to sleep.”

“Buck-”

“No! Bed!” he insisted with a growl. “I’ll take the day to look after Evie, but _you_ are not leaving this room for anything.”

“’m not sick,” he whined. “I don’ get sick no more.”

“Stop acting like a five year old, and get to sleep. And you _do_ get sick, you’re not Captain A-fucking-merica. I’ll wake you for lunch, if you’re not already up. Call me if you need anything.”

He turned away from the shower and left the bedroom, leaving Steve still arguing back in gibberish, getting progressively quieter until Bucky was sure he fell asleep.

It was just their luck that the one time Steve got sick was when he was eight months pregnant.

He sighed, waddling into the kitchen to make himself and Genevieve some breakfast, shooting off a quick text to Dugan, telling him that he wouldn’t be at work that day.

 _Steve’s sick_ , he typed. _Gotta look after evie today_

When Genevieve’s breakfast was ready and waiting, he made his way to her bedroom, sorry to wake her up, but she needed to have her daytime schedule worked out – especially since she was starting preschool in the New Year.

“Genevieve,” he called softly, peeking his head past the door to see if she was awake yet. Her back was to the door so he stepped inside, grunting as he lowered himself to sit on the edge of her bed. They’d switched out her old crib for a ‘big girl bed’ because Henry was going to be needing it soon. She had a fair few problems, which was to be expected. “Hey, baby girl, time to wake up,” he nudged her gently. “Breakfast is ready.”

“Tummy…” she grumbled weakly, and Bucky froze.

“Tummy what? What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“Tummy bad… don’t good. Not good.”

“You don’t feel well, baby?” he murmured, trying not to let the panic in his voice show. Steve being sick was one thing, but Genevieve too? “Here, look at me.”

She turned half-heartedly, eyes fluttering closed as Bucky felt her forehead like he had Steve’s. Sure enough, she was burning up too.

“Oh, puppy,” he sighed. “You’re sick. Do you want to go back to sleep?” she nodded, giving a big yawn. She reached out with one hand and fisted it into his shirt.

“Papa stay.”

He wasn’t exactly going to deny her. Breakfast could wait, after all.

He couldn’t believe his luck, though, that both his mate and his daughter were sick on the same day. But Bucky just sighed, moved his daughter over a little, and lay down alongside her, closing his eyes for a brief minute that turned into a few hours.

 

“Buck?” came a thick voice from the doorway, startling Bucky awake as he registered the warmth of Genevieve against his chest. He turned to the voice and found his mate looking pathetic and sick, wrapped in a blanket, at the doorway.

“Steve,” he mumbled, yawning. He did his best to snake his arms out of his daughter’s grip. “What’s the matter?”

“I was lookin’ for you,” he moaned pitifully. “We’re supposed to have a _schedule_ -”

“She’s sick too, moron,” he huffed, soothing his daughter as she started to stir. “Hey, princess, you wanna wake up now?”

“No,” Genevieve moaned, her whining much more endearing than Steve’s was. Despite the negative, she sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes, a whine starting low in her throat. “Papa, tummy bad.”

“I know it’s bad, princess. Want me to get you some medicine? It’ll make you feel a little better.”

“Yes please,” she sighed, snuggling back into his chest.

“You gotta walk yourself, baby. I can’t carry you, and daddy’s too sick.”

“Don’t wanna,” she whined petulantly, so Bucky just shrugged and rolled to his feet.

“Okay then. I’ll see you later, sweetie.”

He waddled away, pushing Steve out of her room before stopping just outside of her eye-line.

“Three… two… one…” Steve mumbled, and surely enough, there were a series of thumps and whines as she pulled her door open and hugged Steve’s leg.

“No good,” she cried pitifully. “Bad. Stay.”

“I know, baby,” Steve said, voice thick with phlegm. “Me too. Let’s go sit down while papa gets something to eat for us.”

“Oh, am I a waiter now?” Bucky grumbled, despite veering off to the kitchen to warm up Genevieve’s breakfast for brunch.

“Love you.”

“Love you too, donkey-hole.”

 

Genevieve being ill meant that as soon as Bucky lowered himself onto the couch, she crawled as far into his side as she could manage, given that most of his lap was taken by his stomach.  Compromising, he pulled her up and stretched out on the couch, letting her slide into the gap between him and the couch, resting her head on his chest as they watched TV together.

Steve returned from the bathroom a few minutes later and made an offended, partly distressed noise combined with a sneeze.

“I want Bu-papa cuddles,” he whined in a nasally voice. Definitely coming down with a cold.

“There’s no room for you,” Bucky shot him a smug look.

“No fair!”

“If you can find room for a papa cuddle, you can _have_ a papa cuddle.”

As always, Steve took that as a challenge. He lifted Bucky’s leg – closest to the edge – and sat underneath it, so Steve was (un-erotically) between his legs. Then, giving Bucky a smug look, he lowered himself onto his side, gently pressing his ear against Bucky’s swollen stomach.

Bucky sighed at him. “Drama queen,” he muttered, but used his free hand to gently play with Steve’s hair.

“Love you papa,” Genevieve sighed after a moment, eyes flickering closed.

“I love you too, princess.”

 

 

A long, exhausting four days off of work later, the two of them finally got over their colds. It was a huge relief, because as Genevieve got more sick, she became less cute and more cranky, crying and screaming, and Bucky ended up calling both Bruce and his mother because he couldn't handle taking care of her and Steve on his own. He couldn't even ask Peggy and Angie for help, as they were dealing with their own six week old son, Daniel.

Bruce had assured him she was doing fine, Bucky was doing a good job, and she was just being dramatic - like kids were. It didn't help him much, though, since he had it set in his heart that he was a failure as a parent, and didn't deserve to have his son.

Once she got better, though, his fears were assuaged as she returned to his beloved, bubbly baby girl. 

 

 

Four days before his due date, he was holding his first son close to his chest, his daughter peering at the baby, Steve on his other side and gently holding Henry Samuel Rogers' head.

“He ugly.” Genevieve declared.

Bucky laughed until he cried.

His perfect little family, coming together and becoming not-so-little, and he didn’t want it to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone points it out, yes I know Bucky calls himself 'Barnes-Rogers' but in the first chapter it was just Mr Rogers. This is because in my experience at weddings, they typically announce the couple as Mr and Mr(s) *insert single last name here*. I've never been at a wedding where they announced the double barrel, but many of the weddings have been between people who took double barrel names.

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, the ages of the children are as follows:  
> Joseph: 21st December, three years old as of March 6th (the wedding)  
> Genevieve: 17th June, one year old (20 months)  
> Kate: 18th November, one year old (15 months)  
> Cassie: a few months younger than Joseph, three years old.  
> Bucky and Steve also celebrate their 29th birthdays that year.


End file.
